The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Dry-type sprinklers for fire protection systems have been available for many years. The dry-type sprinklers can be installed in either an upright or a pendant position, according to design. Generally speaking, dry pipe sprinklers comprise a sprinkler adapted to be installed in a piping system, the sprinkler having a valve at the inlet end to prevent water or other fire extinguishing fluid in the pipeline from entering the sprinkler until the sprinkler is put into operation by collapse of a thermally responsive mechanism. The valve end of the sprinkler is screwed into or otherwise attached to a fitting in the water supply piping. This type of dry-pipe sprinkler is particularly useful for suppression or controlling a fire situation in a warehouse area that is generally controlled to maintain a temperature below freezing for the fire suppressant liquid. In many warehouse coolers and freezers, the compartment that is controlled at a cool or freezing temperature is a box enclosure within a heated warehouse or building compartment. The sprinkler system desired for control or suppression against fire is typically a wet pipe system that includes water or fire suppressant pressurized up to the sprinkler assembly for rapid discharge of fluid or gas at the time of operation of the heat sensitive sprinkler trigger assembly.
Current methods used to protect cool or freezing areas is to fill a system with anti-freeze and limit the volume of anti-freeze to provide adequate time to expel the anti-freeze before filling with water to suppress or control the fire, or the use of a dry pipe system or pre-action system that includes filling the piping system with air or gas to pressurize the piping system and apply water after detection of the fire expelling all the air in the piping before water is delivered to the protected area through the sprinkler assembly. For suppression mode sprinklers, it is desired to use only wet systems due to rapid discharge requirements of fire suppressant to extinguish the fire. Current dry pipe sprinkler technology uses smaller sprinkler assemblies having K factors less than 14. Current dry sprinkler assemblies on the market do not allow protection of large warehouse areas with ceiling only protection above 25 feet and greater. Protection of large warehouse areas with ceiling heights above 25 feet require larger sprinklers having a K factor of 14 and greater which are designed as early suppression fast response (ESFR) or large orifice with a K factor of 14 and for use as a control mode sprinkler, protection of stored warehouse material in coolers or freezer compartments. For ESFR sprinklers, the heat responsive trigger has a response time index (RTI) of less than 100 meter1/2 sec1/2. Current dry sprinkler assemblies include many components and require close tolerance of the length of the component assembly to maintain accurate and consistent quality assemblies.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a dry pipe sprinkler design that is adjustable for allowance of greater tolerance providing a more consistent and cost effective sprinkler assembly for use in dry pipe applications. Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a sprinkler including a sprinkler body with a thermally responsive element mounted to the sprinkler body. A housing is provided including an inlet and an outlet end, with the outlet end being connected to the sprinkler body. A seal member is disposed at the inlet end of the housing, and a load mechanism extends between the thermally responsive element and the seal member. The sprinkler can be connected to a water or fire suppressant supply piping network in a heated area and penetrate the wall or ceiling enclosure allowing the sprinkler fusible trigger and distribution device to be located in a freezing area of a warehouse storage application. The system provides a sealed inlet connection located at the temperature controlled supply piping system and includes a dry barrel extension through the wall of the compartment to a freezing area and a discharge sprinkler device that includes a fusible trigger mechanism and distribution surface to accurately discharge fire suppressant over a protected fire area within the compartment. The present disclosure provides a dry sprinkler assembly for use with large K factor sprinklers in which an orifice outlet member can be selectively provided in order to vary the K factor for the sprinkler assembly without having to modify other components thereof.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.